


Kismet

by miltonicsimile



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Wizards, Fairy Tale Elements, Familiars, Fractured Fairy Tale, M/M, Magic Made Them Do It, Magic-Users, Soonhoon - Freeform, Sorcerers, jh: dude PLS GET LAID IM CONCERNED
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-23 03:01:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23371312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miltonicsimile/pseuds/miltonicsimile
Summary: Late one night a young man, barely more than a boy, named Soonyoung comes knocking on Jihoon's door. He asks for a magical bargain, but it comes at a high price: Soonyoung's firstborn child. For there is power in the young and youthful that fades with age, and Jihoon, an immortal sorcerer, simply cannot pass up the opportunity.As the years go by, Jihoon waits eagerly, excited for the power and magic that the child will grant him. The only problem is, by twenty-four, Soonyoung still has not wed or fathered any children. So, Jihoon decides to take things into his own hands and try to find help Soonyoung a partner. But fate has been set from the moment the spell was cast, and not even Jihoon and his magic can change it.
Relationships: Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 7
Kudos: 58





	Kismet

**Author's Note:**

> day ??? of isolation....here is another from my wip folder lol this one is really old like 2016 lmao.......
> 
> inspired by this [prompt](https://pics.me.me/writing-prompt-s-years-ago-you-promised-your-firstborn-to-a-witch-5944273.png)

Jihoon is halfway through both a bottle of dandelion wine and a book on divination when someone knocks on his door.

He freezes and looks up. Visitors are uncommon this far up the mountain, and Wonwoo visited only last week.

In a quick flick of the hand, Jihoon’s candles dim and the curtains around the windows pull shut. His cottage is the only one for miles, easily spotted by the smoke from the chimney. Wonwoo had even suggested with the colder weather of autumn to use a simple spell to hide it, to keep away the strays on the mountainside. Jihoon had dismissed it as a waste of magic. Wonwoo was going to laugh when he heard about this.

Jihoon really doesn’t want to deal with some lost travellers this late in the evening. But sending anyone lost back down the mountain at this time of night would be a death sentence, and Jihoon wouldn’t want that resting on his shoulders. He is not entirely cruel.

They knock again.

Jihoon stands and finds himself a bit unsteady on his feet. He grips the edge of the table, cursing the wine.

He goes to the door and takes a deep, exasperated breath as he opens it.

“Hi,” a young man, a boy really, maybe fifteen greets him. He has reddened round cheeks and small but bright eyes that are looking at him curiously. His breath blows out in a small white cloud in the chilly evening air. “Are you the wizard who lives on this mountain?”

Jihoon sighs again but manages to hold back a groan. He frowns as he looks over the boy again, who’s youth pours off him of waves of raw energy. Jihoon, if he’d had a little less wine, could’ve captured some without the boy even noticing. “Who is asking?”

The boy smiles at him -  _ smiles _ ! And it’s ridiculous that this is who is knocking on his door this late in the day. “I am. I want to make a deal with you.”

Jihoon has made a few deals with the common folks. Not many, but enough that he knows that those who are truly desperate and willing to pay the costs are the ones that come seeking him. He can’t imagine what this young boy could propose. He surely doesn’t understand the type of price Jihoon would demand. He’s wasted a hard trip up the mountainside.

“What’s your name?”

“Kwon Soonyoung.”

"And how old are you?”

“I turned fourteen last week.” The boy, Soonyoung, tells him, shivering. He’s still smiling, and it’s a bit disarming to Jihoon who is unused to kindness and has had more than two cups of wine.

He is still but a child. Soonyoung sighs yet again, and steps back, holding his door open for this stranger. “It’s cold out. Come in at least to warm up.”

Soonyoung grins at him and steps inside.

“Tea?” Jihoon asks, shutting the door. He waves a hand and the flames of the candles burn bright again, illuminating the room.

Soonyoung gapes at him, at this simple act of magic. “I…okay, sure. Thank you.”

He holds back a sneer at the boy’s amazement. Instead, he just nods.

Jihoon had made tea earlier that afternoon after coming in with stiff chilled fingers from harvesting in the forest. He had forced himself to go out again before the snow fell and covered everything in a blanket of white.

“Here,” Jihoon says, grabbing the teapot and earthenware cups from the counter against the far wall, setting them down on the table.

He motions for Soonyoung to sit down and then does a half-hearted attempt at clearing the table, marking the page in the book he was reading with a dried oak leaf he’d been planning on using in a spell. “The tea is my own personal blend. It will help sharpen the mind and allow creativity to flow.”

The young boy watches him, eyes skeptically as Jihoon pours the lilac liquid into their cups. Then, setting the teapot back down on the table, Jihoon gently claps his hands together.

Instantly, the tea in front of Soonyoung begins to steam.

Wide eyes look at Jihoon in amazement.

“You  _ are _ a wizard!”

He scoffs, sitting down at the only other seat at the table and reaching for his wine again. He’s going to need it to make it through tonight. “Look, kid, I’m technically a sorcerer. My magic comes from  _ within _ me. Wizards need to learn from spell books and the like to harness and direct their power. And don’t even try to compare me to a  _ warlock _ . Those bastards all have a screw or two loose, all their magic power coming from some ‘higher being’”.

“How powerful are you?” Soonyoung asks him, his wide eyes gleaming in the firelight.

Jihoon chuckles, amused at the boy’s excitement, his curiosity. He had forgotten how refreshing common folk could be. Their naivety, especially when not corrupted by hate or fear from rumours about the dangers of magic, is rather charming. Cute even, on this boy.

“I’m powerful enough,” Jihoon tells him, the corners of his mouth curling into a flicker of a smile. He taps his fingers against the rough wood of the table. “Now tell me what kind of deal you have in mind. I warn you: magic does not come without a cost.”

“I know,” Soonyoung nods, suddenly turning serious. “I want you to put a spell on my village. I want you to make it so nothing bad could ever happen there.”

Jihoon’s brows knit together in confusion.

The boy continues. “Sickness can come, but no one can die. Weather can vary, but there will never be a failure in the harvest to provide enough for winter. People can’t know suffering, not the true, soul-shattering kind. I want you to use your magic to ensure that the village is not completely changed but just protected for evil. True evil. In exchange, when the time comes, I will give you my first-born child.”

“ _ Your first-born child?” _ Jihoon asks, brows raising in surprise. “That’s a high price to pay. Are you sure you want to make such a bargain? You’re barely more than a boy now, you may feel much different about the matter in a few years. Imagine trying to explain to your future wife that your first child together has to be given away to a sorcerer on the mountain.”

Soonyoung sips his tea slowly, but his gaze never wanders. He has made his mind up on this matter far before knocking on Jihoon’s door, that much is clear. “I understand the terms I purpose perfectly.”

Children have a magic to them that fades with age. Soonyoung, even at fourteen is still burning bright with this magic, making the air in Jihoon’s cottage thick with it. Most people lose it by his age. And Jihoon, despite only looking to be in his twenties, will celebrate his second centennial in the coming weeks.

To have a child, to be able to have access to such power for a number of years while it grew would allow Jihoon to make progress in growing and honing his skills that he would never have otherwise. Soonyoung must know this, or at least know how children are treasured by magic-users to make such an offer. Raising a child though would be difficult. But Wonwoo would help Jihoon too, he always speaks of the children he sees in the villages he passes through.

“It’s tempting, I will admit,” Jihoon says after a long moment. He doesn’t know much about raising children, but he’s read enough books to know that there’s magic to help with them, like anything else. It’d be worth the cost. “But I need you to understand that any deal made between us will be binding through magic. There will be no chances of cheating, of running away from it. Once you give your word, any regrets you have will be futile.”

Soonyoung nods once, and if he didn’t look so determined, Jihoon would tell him to leave right now. But his eyes hold Jihoon’s own, steady in understanding and committed. At fourteen he’s willing to make such a bargain, it’s unusual. Surprising.

Jihoon cannot help but wonder what type of man the boy in front of him with his easy smile and focused eyes will grow into. How will this magic change him? Will it be for the better, or the worse?

“Fine,” he says eventually, setting his empty cup of wine down on the table with a thud. “I accept.” He reaches out and takes Soonyoung’s small cold hands on his own. The boy looks at him with eyes wide. “The village you hail from and are bound to by blood is now protected from all true forms of evil and harm. It is cursed with mediocracy. In exchange, when the time comes, you will forfeit your first-born child into my possession. Do you promise to the moon in the sky and the stars that fall?”

Soonyoung nods quickly, grip tightening before managing a soft, “I do.”

The magic flows through the warm air of the small cottage hot and heavy and hits them both in a wave of pure energy. It makes goosebumps rise on Jihoon’s arms and his heart flutter. It feels like every season passes through him at once and leaves him breathless and craving more. Soonyoung’s youth made the spell even more powerful, but he didn't dare share that. The boy doesn’t need to know the extent of his abilities.

Jihoon drops Soonyoung’s hands to the table, sitting back in his chair. He takes a deep breath, reorienting himself. “It’s a spell you know, not a marriage vow.”

“It’s just as binding, though,” Soonyoung counters, standing. He’s still not done growing, a softness to his features with a promise to become taller, more refined. “Our fates are now bound, our futures intertwined. I wish you the best…”

“Jihoon,” he offers, struggling to stand again. “You can call me Jihoon.”

Soonyoung nods, heading for the door. He pulls his wool coat tighter around him, anticipating the cold outside. “Thank you for this, Jihoon.”

And because Jihoon doesn’t quite understand what he’s just done, and because he doesn’t really know with any certainty the boy in front of him will even make it back down the mountain alive and live to father any children, he just nods.

He is not a god; he is not a saint. He is just a man, a simple sorcerer. The only thing that really makes them different is that inside Jihoon, there is a power that follows from the land into him, one he can call on and listen to. Soonyoung, common-born, may not have this same power, but that doesn’t mean he too doesn’t have something special within him. Now, with the magic done, Soonyoung may be even closer to Jihoon than before.

Wonwoo always says that there’s a little bit of magic in everyone.

☾✩☽

It turned out that Wonwoo thought Jihoon was equally part fool and greedy bastard for making the deal.

“A child, Ji? A  _ child _ ?” Wonwoo shakes his head at the news a few moons later. “What were you thinking? Taking someone’s first-born and thus,  _ only _ child away from them? For what? So, you can become more powerful?”

“I mean, yeah, that was the logic.”

Wonwoo frowns at him from across the table, dropping a piece of hard cheese onto the wooden board with a clunk. “A child isn’t another relic to collect and put on your shelf until you need to use it. Children require a lot of care. They require  _ love _ . That’s what keeps their magic strong, did you forget about that part?”

“No,” Jihoon says defensively, which isn’t quite a lie. He’d known that love was a key element in the preservation of childhood magic. He just hadn’t been focused on that aspect of the finer details when making the bargain with Soonyoung.

“I hope the common boy got a good deal out of it then,” Wonwoo grumbles, tearing apart the loaf of brown bread he’d brought up with him from the village. He’d also brought up the cheese and dried beef for them to share. “Did you give him eternal luck? Will anything he touches with his pinky turn to gold? Does he have a spot above his lip that makes anyone who gazes at it see him as the most handsome man alive?”

Wonwoo turns to Rune, his companion animal, a small tabby cat and feeds her a piece of the dried beef. She sits at a makeshift third chair that Wonwoo always insists Jihoon brings to the table for her. In truth, it is a stool Jihoon uses to reach the jars on the top shelf, but he won’t ever admit to that. For all intents and purposes, it’s Rune’s designated chair for visits.

“He wanted his entire village to be protected. That nothing truly bad can happen there.”

Though Jihoon can’t see it behind Wonwoo’s mop of dark hair across half his face, he knows his friend is raising a brow at him. “That seems suspiciously altruistic. How old did you say this boy was again?” Wonwoo asks, shoving a piece of the bread into his mouth.

“Fourteen,” Jihoon sighs, “Look, I wouldn’t have made the deal and gone through with the spell if I didn’t think his intentions were pure. This is what he wanted. He understood the cost, I made sure of that.”

Wonwoo shakes his head again, picking up a piece of the hard cheese and turning it over in his hands, examining it. “Well, I suppose you have some time then to consider everything. Years, likely. You can form a semblance of a plan regarding child-rearing while the boy enjoys the comfort of knowing everyone in his village will remain safe and happy at the cost of his future child. I suppose in a way he is getting the better end of the deal,” Wonwoo muses, popping the cheese into his mouth. “How many lives has he saved by asking for mediocracy? How much unhappiness has he prevented? How much suffering? How much heartache? If you think about it, it’s actually quite a bit of magic. I’m kind of impressed.”

Jihoon nods, picking at the bread. He’s already thought these things a dozen times over. He doesn’t regret his decision. “As I said, he was young. He still had the magic in him. Pouring off him, really. It made it easy.”

“I suppose we will just have to see what happens,” Wonwoo says after a moment. He finally offers a smile, handing another piece of meat to Rune who is listening to their conversation dutifully, “there is an element of surprise to the waiting. The boy could marry next year or in ten.”

“He could father a child without taking a wife, too.”

Wonwoo shrugs, leaning back into his hair, amused. “I suppose he could. But does a boy as selfless as this one, willing to make such a sacrifice really seem like the kind to go around taking women to bed without making a vow?”

Jihoon hadn’t thought about it like that. Soonyoung was barely more than a boy, the thought of him marrying or becoming a father anytime soon seemed absurd. “I suppose not.”

"Well then, best of luck in love to your boy!” Wonwoo raises his glass of wine and takes a sip, laughing into his cup. “May he have better luck than you!”

Jihoon frowns at his friend from across the table but raises his glass and drinks to the toast too.

That was the only loophole in their bargain: if Soonyoung failed to father any children, he and the village would continue to reap the benefits of the spell, regardless of whether Jihoon’s end remained unfulfilled.  _ When the time comes _ , had been the wording. But what if the time never came?

☾✩☽

Which after ten years is, unfortunately, the case.

“My dear friend, you’re on the receiving end of a very poor deal,” Wonwoo tells him as they walk through the mountain paths together collecting herbs.

Rune trots along ahead of them, examining the forest around her. She, as Wonwoo’s familiar, protects him and makes his magic stronger. But as far as Jihoon can tell, Rune’s most important job is keeping Wonwoo happy, giving him comfort when he’s far from home travelling, which he usually is. But there’s magic in the companionship she provides Wonwoo, his happiness making his magic stronger.

The spring is fading into summer on the mountainside. Though the midmorning air still holds some bite to it, there is a promise of warmth from the sun as the day progresses. A good day for a spring harvest of the mountain’s natural gifts. It’s an activity he does because he  _ needs _ to and Wonwoo does because he genuinely enjoys it. Which is why Jihoon typically waits for his friend's visits to go out searching for more than the basics.

Wonwoo bends down to examine a cluster of mushrooms that are growing beneath a fallen log in the dampness. He picks one and brings it to his face, inspecting it carefully from behind his round spectacles. “The boy is twenty-four now. And the village is faring well. Everyone is happy but you.”

“I know,” Jihoon grumbles, reaching with his knife of bone to cut off the red branches of a young willow tree. It will make good tea, medicinal for all sorts of ailments. Being magic involves being connected to the land, understanding the gifts it provides. Respecting it, taking only what you need and giving back. Reciprocal. “And it’s not even like he could be possibly hiding a child. The magic connects us. If one was born, I’d  _ know _ it.  _ And _ he’d be compelled to bring it to me.”

“It’s honestly kind of funny. You worked so hard to prepare for taking on a child. I’ve never seen you throw yourself into something so hard. You read all the books, magic and not about children. You built a crib and prepared your cottage.” Wonwoo chuckles, the ends of his emerald robes blowing in the ever-constant mountain wind. “I guess I did my job in making you realize that children are not just magical springs you can just tap into at will for your own benefit.”

Rune comes trotting back towards them, looking at Wonwoo as he laughs, interested. They’re connected in a way that even Jihoon can’t understand. A magic-user and their companion each have a special bond, no two alike.

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “I know, I know. But what if he never has a child? What am I going to do?”

“Maybe he really is just unlucky when it comes to romance,” Wonwoo offers after a moment. He is picking the mushrooms and putting them carefully in his canvas sack. “I know Junhui, bless his soul, would have never even dared come up to talk to me in that tavern all those years ago if he hadn’t been adorably drunk. Honestly, imagine having a crush for months on a stranger who you  _ know _ is a wizard but are too scared to talk to not because of the magic, but because of how cute you think they are.”

Jihoon, who has heard this story countless times in the past three years resists the urge to roll his eyes for a second time in less than five minutes. “You really aren’t that cute.”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Wonwoo shoots back, still smiling at the memory. “Anyway, my point is maybe your boy just needs a little help finding love. Maybe you should go help him.”

“You cannot be serious.”

“I mean, it couldn’t hurt,” Wonwoo shrugs. “What’s the worst thing that can happen?”

Jihoon doesn’t want to admit it, but Wonwoo has a point. Still, it seems absurd that he, the least romantically inclined person he knows, to go down to Soonyoung’s village in an attempt to play matchmaker. And what if he succeeded? What was he going to do? Congratulate them on their marriage, wait for them to conceive a child, then peace out back up the mountainside with it once it was born? But then again, nothing bad can happen in the village. Maybe Wonwoo has a point.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Jihoon decides after a moment. He sits down on a rock and drops a hand for Rune to rub her soft head into. “He must know I’ve been waiting. It’s honestly somewhat concerning that by his age he isn’t getting laid.”

Wonwoo chuckles in agreement. Then, with a soft smile, he begins chanting an incantation softly under his breath. It makes the buds of the cherry tree next to him unravel into green leaves and delicate white flowers bloom. He looks to Jihoon and shrugs. “Maybe a little magic could help with the romance, too. You never know.”

☾✩☽

It’s truly summer by the time Jihoon finally makes the journey down the mountainside to the village in the valley beneath it.

He only makes the journey a few times a year, preferring to stay on the mountain at home, waiting for Wonwoo or other friends to bring him things when they visit. It isn’t that he dislikes the village or the common folk who live there, it’s just that he can’t be bothered most of the time.

But Jihoon has a connection to this village. It has not gone unnoticed by its people and the travellers that pass through that it is doing well, thriving. It didn’t fall victim to the plague that burned through surrounding villages last summer, nor did it suffer despite the harsh winter the two years previous. The magic is working. And Jihoon cannot help but take some pride in knowing this, that he has the power and capability to do such a thing.

He tries to think of that, the positives as he enters the village. It’s small enough that he instantly draws attention as a stranger. Jihoon forces himself to smile amicably and continue down the dirt street towards the market. He’s donned common clothes, hempen trousers and a linen shirt over which he wears his black cloak which hangs to his heels, clasped at his throat with a black tourmaline for protection. He still stands out.

During the previous visits to the village, he’s never seen Soonyoung. Part of him hadn’t ever wanted to, fearing the unknown of what would happen if they met again. Would the younger boy just smile at him and wave? Would he freeze at the reminder of the magic and the hold it has on his future? Or would he run over and invite him to dinner with his family? Would he even remember Jihoon?

Jihoon didn’t know the boy well enough to have a clue. They had met once, ten years ago, and Soonyoung had just been fourteen. A child. Much has surely changed since. But from the lack of a child on Soonyoung’s end, apparently not  _ that _ much.

He looks around the village’s buildings. They’re mostly made of steely grey stone from the mountain, providing a strong if not terribly warm structure. Not that it would matter on a day like today, where the sun shines down hot and unrelenting on Jihoon in his black cloak.

The village opens in the centre with a busy market square. There are more people here, milling about and looking at the various goods that have been brought to be sold or bartered for. There are so many fresh fruits and vegetables because of the season, and Jihoon thinks that maybe coming down here was a good idea. He could enjoy perfectly naturally ripened peaches, not having to rely on magic for once.

He goes up to one fruit vendor. On the ground, sitting behind the array of fruit on the rug is a young girl, maybe twelve. She smiles up at him with crooked teeth, but it doesn’t dim the effect. Waves of energy pour from her.

“Hi there,” she greets him in the village accent. “Looking for anything in particular?”

He looks at all the fruit laid out before her. There are bundles of cherries, plums, and peaches. And he doesn’t have to pick any of it himself to enjoy it, merely barter the costs. Normally, he would use magic in trade. For a handkerchief of cherries, enough for him to snack on while walking around the rest of the market he would barter just a small thing. He could give the vendor a week without worries or give them perfectly blushing cheeks to enhance their appearance. He could make their hair grow or fade a scar.

“For now, I’ll take just three of your peaches,” Jihoon tells her, handing her a copper coin. He figures it might be best to keep his magic hidden for a while, even though many here in the village already know who he is. “And if you don’t mind, can you tell me where I would find a man by the name of Kwon Soonyoung?” 

She takes the coin and smiles brightly and hands over the fruit. “Oh, of course. But first, may I ask why you want to find Kwon Soonyoung?”

“We have unfinished business together.”

“We do?”

Jihoon turns so fast he nearly drops the peaches, clumsily clutching them to his chest so they don’t fall. “ _ Soonyoung _ !”

The young man in front of him is no longer a child. He has grown taller than Jihoon. His face is no longer round. His jaw is sharply defined, though his cheeks have managed to keep definition. He offers a friendly smile at Jihoon and his curved dark eyes sparkle in the bright sun of the day.

Jihoon immediately is struck by two equally distressing things: Soonyoung is  _ handsome _ . And, miraculously, youthful energy pours off him.

“ _ Jihoon _ ! My sorcerer!” Soonyoung greets him, seemingly genuinely happy at this chance meeting. He takes the peach from against Jihoon's chest that rests precariously atop the others before it can fall. “I was wondering how long it would take before you came looking for me.”

☾✩☽

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/wizardwonu)


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